…words should hold interest; the melody should be attractive; points of concentrated interest should be enacted with strong visual appeal.
When all these elements come together at once,
the entire audience is enchanted.
Six centuries ago, the co-creator and great playwright and theorist of Noh Theater, Zeami, linked the plays' success to the cultivation and the 'coming together' of text, visuals and music. Today, the expressive interaction of these three layers might be called intermedia. Whereas the individual artistic elements of Noh have been studied extensively, the interactions between them are relatively underdiscussed. This project is intended to contribute to the understanding and appreciation of Noh by offering in-depth intermedia analysis of four plays, introductions to elements of Noh, and a general discussion about Noh as intermedia.
The authors wish to express deepest gratitude to our collaborators and most importantly to the Kongō School of Noh for partnering with the project.
These pages feature complete recordings and the in-depth intermedia analysis of four plays.
Third category, Woman or “Wig” play, Hashitomi, enfolds the viewers in the tender dream-like world of the female protagonist, a spirit of young Lady Yūgao, who appears as a flower and reminisces about her romantic encounter with Prince Genji.
In the Fifth category, Final or Demon play, Kokaji, swordsmith Munechika must forge a sacred blade for the Emperor Ichijō. He is aided by a youth who reveals his true form as the powerful Inari fox deity, and together they hammer the sword into existence.
Outside of the traditional five categories, Okina is a cornertone sacred ritual of Noh, in which actors embody divine beings to offer blassings of peace, prosperity and safety of the land. It is performed by all schools, especially to welcome the New Year.
In the First category God play, Takasago, the spirits of the revered Takasago and Sumiyoshi pines take the form of an elderly couple. The play celebrates their enduring bond as a symbol of marital fidelity, a prosperous reign, and poetic inspiration.
The following pages offer introductions to the formal design of Noh, and the building blocks of individual media layers.
Summarizes the classical formal design and explains its modular (shōdan) construction.
Lists the categories of actors and their roles in Noh.
Includes information about vocal styles, instrumental sounds, rhythmic organization and a catalog of nohkan patterns.
Introduces principal dance forms, and analyzes shimai dances from Hashitomi and Kokaji.
Introduces categories of text and presents libretti from Hashitomi and Kokaji in Romaji transliteration and English translation.
Discusses the use of the Noh stage, masks, costumes and properties.
This website was developed in cooperation with the Japanese Performing Arts Research Consortium. We would like to invite our readers to visit also an affiliated website 'Nōgaku.'